Quds city, Feb 1, SPA -- Israel's attorney general ruled Tuesday that a government decision to seize Al-Quds city land of Palestinians living in the West Bank violates Israeli and international law, an official said. Israeli Cabinet ministers secretly decided last summer to enforce the long-dormant Absentee Property Law of 1950 which allowed Israel to seize the property of Palestinians who had fled or were driven from their homes during the 1948-49 Mideast war. Justice Ministry spokesman Jacob Galanti said Attorney General Meni Mazuz ruled that reviving the old law is illegal. "Mazuz gave his opinion to ministers that this decision is not legally defensible, that it cannot stand up to either Israeli or international law," Galanti said Tuesday. Hundreds of acres of land have been taken in recent months from Palestinians who were cut off from their Al-Quds city property by the separation barrier Israel is building in the West Bank. Hundreds more property owners are at risk, two attorneys for Palestinian land owners have said.
